What to do with unfinished, dull wooden hair sticks?

[Irish Fae]

Hello!

I recently obtained a really beautiful pair of purpleheart hair sticks from the swap board. I love them, but unfortunately after a quick wash in water to clean them, they became very dull as they dried. I don't think they have any kind of finish or coating. I don't want them to be overly shiny, and I don't want to lose the look of the natural wood, but I would like for them to be just a bit less dull, and possibly a bit smoother. What do the rest of you do with unfinished wood hair sticks? Is there any product I may already have in my home that I could use, such as coconut oil? Would furniture polish work, or would it leave a gross residue in my hair?

Thank you for any advice!

Cheers,
Kara

[spidermom]

Try coconut oil; it couldn't hurt. When I bought my wooden comb, a little bottle of wood wax came with it. It's called Williamsville wax and has beeswax, lemon oil, and "other natural oils".

[young&reckless]

I use natural beeswax lipbalm on my wood hair toys.

[dulce]

If you wanted to waterproof them,how about clear varathane or a premade varathane and coloured stain mix?

[Anje]

In general, you don't want to get unfinished wood sticks wet. Not even in damp hair.

Are they still smooth? If not, you might want to get some really fine grit sandpaper (600-1200 grit) and polish them, rubbing the long way. Use a light touch and work from lower to higher numbers.

Coconut oil certainly won't hurt. You'll get a bit more protection using something like Tung oil or boiled linseed oil, though. Those you should be able to find at a hardware or woodworking store, when you get sandpaper. If you use one of those oils, let it dry on the sticks for a few days before putting it in your hair. They're considered "drying oils" because they chemically react to form a dry layer instead of staying oily and liquid. You don't want that kind of coating forming on your hair.... (P.S. Make sure you get pure tung oil, not a finish that just happens to contain it. Be aware that if you go that route, it could add a bit of a golden tone.)

[Blandine]

Another vote for the fine sandpaper. When unprotected wood gets wet, many tiny tiny splinters rise and the surface turns rough. These can easily be sanded off to achieve a surface that is even smoother than it was before.

As for the finish, oil darkens the colour of the wood. This can be wanted, or not. If you want to keep the colour as it is, wax does the trick. For example, from a candle, but must be proper bee's wax.

[furnival]

What Anje said. It's common practice, when sanding wood to a fine finish, to dampen the surface lightly to raise the grain so it can be sanded off and the smoothest finish obtained. This is what's happened to your sticks. So if you sand it back to shiny and seal it with something- you can even use beeswax or candle wax, rubbed in hard with a cloth- they'll be as good as new. Maybe shinier than before! Just remember to clean them with oil...:)

[Athena's Owl]

I just use coconut oil on my wooden hairsticks. I don't mind frequently oiling my sticks, so it's good enough for me.

[furnival]

Another vote for the fine sandpaper. When unprotected wood gets wet, many tiny tiny splinters rise and the surface turns rough. These can easily be sanded off to achieve a surface that is even smoother than it was before.

As for the finish, oil darkens the colour of the wood. This can be wanted, or not. If you want to keep the colour as it is, wax does the trick. For example, from a candle, but must be proper bee's wax.

Ha, said pretty much the same thing there at the same time!:D